Method of image fusion

ABSTRACT

A method of fusing images includes the steps of providing at least two images of the same object, each image being a digital image or being transformed in a digital image formed by an array of pixels or voxels, and of combining together the pixels or voxels of the at least two images being combined to obtain a new image formed by the combined pixels or voxels.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method of fusing images, which includes thesteps of providing at least two images of the same object, each imagebeing a digital image or being transformed in a digital image formed byan array of pixels or voxels, and of combining together the pixels orvoxels of the at least two images to obtain a new image formed by thecombined pixels or voxels.

The present invention further relates to the field of image processingmethods, which is presently of great relevance, particularly forrobotics.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The ability to see is recognized to reside mainly in the imageprocessing phase, rather than in the image acquisition phase.

Acquisition is carried out by sensors, which are able to react tophysical parameters, and the acquired image data is deprived of anyinterpretation of the content or significance of what the image datarepresent.

Image processing is carried out on critical image data and is a firststep of the process that enables vision. This first step is far from aninterpretation of the content or meaning of what the image datarepresent, i.e., it is far from any pure intellectual process, and is amere technical process that is not influenced by data content or meaning

Currently, many different methods of performing image fusion are known.

All these methods have the object of improving information content orintelligibility by combining together image data of at least two or,more generally, of a certain number of images of the same object. Inmost cases the at least two or more images are acquired using differentimage acquisition processes in order to integrate the image datainformation of one kind of image acquisition process with the image datainformation of another kind of image acquisition process. So, forexample, two or more images of the same object or scene may be acquired,each or at least some of the images having different spectral rangessuch as visual, infrared or UV spectral range. Other examples may usex-ray images, ultrasound images and/or MRI images as source images of anobject. In this case, image data is acquired using different physicaleffects, each of which is sensible to different conditions or qualitiesof the imaged object and allows highlighting different particulars ofthe imaged object.

The importance of image preprocessing for the follow-on step ofrecognizing certain features and qualities of the imaged object, andthus interpreting the information data of the imaged object or scene, isbeing recognized as being a major contributor in continuously improvingthe methods of image processing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method ofcarrying out image fusion, which allows obtaining improved results inenhancing the information contained in image data of at least two ormore different images of the same object, while at the same timemaintaining at least unchanged or even reducing the operative burden ona computing device, which executes a program for carrying out the methodaccording to the present invention.

In one embodiment, the method of the present invention includes the stepof providing at least two or more images m of the same subject or scene,each image being formed by an array of pixels or voxels P_(i,j) ^(m)arranged in row i and columns j.

The notation P_(i,j) ^(m) comprises not only the position data of thepixel in the array of pixels forming the image, but also the parametersdefining pixel features, which are related to pixels appearance in thearray of pixels forming the image. The parameters describing pixelsfeatures and appearance can be expressed according to one of thedifferent systems currently known and used in this field, such as theRGB (Red, Green, Blue) parameters for the colors, and/or the HSB (Hue,Saturation, Brightness) or the HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness)parameters for the saturation of the pixel.

Similarly, in a variant embodiment, the method might be applied to thesignals, from which the above pixel features are determined, forexample, where the image has been acquired by physical means using acertain physical effect.

Furthermore, the term pixel is to be interpreted as comprising also theextension to the three dimensional equivalent in a three dimensionalimage or voxel, and for the sake of simplicity in the description areference is made only to the two dimensional case, since a threedimensional image can be reduced to a certain number of two dimensionalimages each corresponding to a different slice of the three dimensionalimage.

In a first embodiment, for each pixel P_(i,j) ^(m) of each image m, thefollowing steps are carried out:

Linear Stretching;

Non Linear Focusing;

Weights Initialization;

Delta Calculation;

Weights Update; and

Fused Image Visualization.

In a preferred version of this embodiment under the commercial name ACFFusion, the above steps are carried out through the following equations:

Linear Stretching:P(1)_(i,j) ^(m) =F(P(0)_(i,j) ^(m))=Scale^(m) ·P(0)_(i,j)^(m)·Offset^(m) ; P(1)_(i,j) ^(m) ε[0,1].   (1)where:P(0)_(i,j) ^(m) is the pixel at the row i column j of the image m of them=1 to M images at the step 0 of the method;

P(1)_(i,j) ^(m) is the pixel at the row i column j of the image m of them=1 to M images at the step 1 of the method, the step 1 consisting inthe linear stretching step; and

where:

${Scale}^{m} = \frac{1,0}{{Max}^{m} - {Min}^{m}}$is a scaling factor for the m-th image of the m=1 to M images, and

${Offset}^{m} = \frac{- {Min}^{m}}{{Max}^{m} - {Min}^{m}}$

where:Max^(m)=Max{P(0)_(i,j) ^(m)}Min^(m)=Min{P(0)_(i,j) ^(m)}

Non Linear Focusing:

Legend :

M=Number of Source Images;

$\begin{matrix}{{{\overset{\_}{x}}_{i,j} = {\frac{1}{M} \cdot {\overset{M}{\sum\limits_{m}}{P(1)}_{i,j}^{m}}}};{m \in {\left\lbrack {1,2,\ldots\mspace{11mu},M} \right\rbrack.}}} & (2) \\{{c_{i,j} = \frac{{\overset{\_}{x}}_{i,j}}{1.0 - {\overset{\_}{x}}_{i,j}}};} & (3) \\{{d_{i,j}^{m} = {{P(1)}_{i,j}^{m} - {\overset{\_}{x}}_{i,j}}};} & (4) \\{{P(2)}_{i,j}^{m} = {\frac{c_{i,j}}{c_{i,j} + {\mathbb{e}}^{- d_{i,j}^{m}}}.}} & (5)\end{matrix}$where:

P(2)_(i,j) ^(m) is the pixel at row I, column j of the image m of them=1 to M images at step 2 of the method, step 1 consisting in the nonlinear focusing step.

Weights Initialization:

Legend :

R=Radius of Pixel Neighbourhood.

$\begin{matrix}{{\sigma_{i,j}^{m} = {\sum\limits_{k = {- R}}^{R}{\sum\limits_{z = {- R}}^{R}\left( {{P(2)}_{i,j}^{m} - {P(2)}_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{m}} \right)^{2}}}};} & (6) \\{{{Win} = {\underset{m}{{Arg}\;{Max}}\left\{ \sigma_{i,j}^{m} \right\}}};{m \in \left\lbrack {1,2,\ldots\mspace{11mu},M} \right\rbrack};} & (7) \\{{{W_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{(t)} = {{2.0 \cdot {P(2)}_{i,j}^{Win}} - 1.0}};k},{z \in {\left\lbrack {{- R},{+ R}} \right\rbrack.}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$

The radius of pixel neighborhood is defined by the number of steps fromthe target pixel to the last shell of pixels enclosing the target pixel.

Delta Calculation:

Each pixel of any image VS its neighbourhood:

$\begin{matrix}{{\alpha_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} = {\frac{1}{M} \cdot {\overset{M}{\sum\limits_{m}}\left( {{P(2)}_{i,j}^{m} - {P(2)}_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{m}} \right)^{2}}}};} & (9)\end{matrix}$

Each neighbourhood of an image VS each neighbour of the other images:

$\begin{matrix}{{\beta_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} = {\frac{2}{M \cdot \left( {M - 1} \right)} \cdot {\overset{M - 1}{\sum\limits_{n \neq}}{\overset{M}{\sum\limits_{m}}\left( {{P(2)}_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{n} - {P(2)}_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{m}} \right)^{2}}}}};} & (10)\end{matrix}$

Each central pixel of each image VS the neighbour of the other images:

$\begin{matrix}{{\gamma_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} = \sqrt[2]{\frac{2}{M \cdot \left( {M - 1} \right)} \cdot {\overset{M - 1}{\sum\limits_{n \neq}}{\overset{M}{\sum\limits_{m}}\left( {{P(2)}_{i,j}^{n} - {P(2)}_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{m}} \right)^{2}}}}};} & (11) \\{{\delta_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} = \sqrt[2]{\frac{2}{M \cdot \left( {M - 1} \right)} \cdot {\overset{M - 1}{\sum\limits_{n \neq}}{\overset{M}{\sum\limits_{m}}\left( {{P(2)}_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{n} - {P(2)}_{i,j}^{m}} \right)^{2}}}}};} & (12) \\{{\varphi_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} = \sqrt[2]{\alpha_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} + \beta_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}}};} & (13) \\{\varphi_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} = {\gamma_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} \cdot {\delta_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}.}}} & (14)\end{matrix}$

Weights Update:

$\begin{matrix}{{\psi_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}} = \frac{\varphi_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}}{\phi_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}}};} & (15) \\{{y = \psi_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}};} & \left( {15a} \right) \\{W_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{({t + 1})} = {W_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{(t)} + {\frac{{\mathbb{e}}^{- y} - {\mathbb{e}}^{y}}{{\mathbb{e}}^{- y} + {\mathbb{e}}^{y}}.}}} & (16)\end{matrix}$

Visualization:

$\begin{matrix}{{{NewP}_{i,j} = {f\left( {\frac{1}{\left( {{2 \cdot R} + 1} \right)^{2}} \cdot {\sum\limits_{k = {- R}}^{R}{\sum\limits_{z = {- R}}^{R}W_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{(t)}}}} \right)}};} & (17)\end{matrix}$

in which for the function f(.) the following is validf(·)=NewP _(i,j)ε[0,255]; Linear Stretching.   (18)

The above method steps transform at least two or more source images intoone new image and achieve the object of preserving the most importantfeatures and details of the source images into the new artificial image.The image fusion process according to the present invention generates afused image, in which each pixel is determined from a set of pixels ineach source image.

A particular field of application of the present method is the so-calledmulti-sensor fusion, which relates to the direct combination of severalsignals in order to provide a signal that has the same general format asthe source signals, which signals are acquired by different sensorsoperating according to different physical effects.

According to a second embodiment of the present invention the method(commercial name ACF Net Wave) provides the following steps:

Weights Initialization;

Images Initialization;

Smallest Neighbor;

Weights Updating;

States Updating; and

Mean Weights Visualization.

Weights initialization is carried out according to the followingequations:w_(i,j,i+k,j+z) ^([n=0])=0.0;n=cycles;i ε[1,2, . . . , R];j ε[1, 2, . . . , C];k,z ε[−G,+G].R=Rows;C=Columns;G=NeighborRadius

Image initialization corresponds to the linear stretching of theprevious embodiment:

a_(i, j)^(p^([n = 0])) = Scale^(p) ⋅ x_(i, j)^(p) + Offset^(p);${{Scale}^{p} = \frac{1.0}{{Max}^{p} - {Min}^{p}}};$${{Offset}^{p} = \frac{- {Min}^{p}}{{Max}^{p} - {Min}^{p}}};$Max^(p) = Max{x_(i, j)^(p)}; Min^(p) = Min{x_(i, j)^(p)};x_(i, j)^(p) = Original  Pixel(i, j)  of  Image(p);a_(i, j)^(p^([n])) = Scaled  and  Stretched  Pixel(i, j)  of  Image(p);

Neighbor smallest is defined by the following equations:

${d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\sum\limits_{m = {- G}}^{G}{\sum\limits_{n = {- G}}^{G}\left( {a_{{i + m},{j + n}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} - w_{{i + m},{j + n},{i + k},{j + z}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right)^{2}}}};$${r_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{i + k}{︸}}{\arg{\;\;}\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${c_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{j + z}{︸}}{\arg\mspace{11mu}\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${s_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{p}{︸}}{\arg{\;\;}\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$

The equations describing the updating of the weights are:

$\begin{matrix}{{{{w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack} = {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} + {\alpha \cdot \left( {a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{s_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} - w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right)}}};}\mspace{20mu}{\overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\frac{1}{\left( {1 + {2 \cdot G}} \right)^{2}} \cdot {\sum\limits_{k = {- G}}^{G}{\sum\limits_{z = {- G}}^{G}w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}}}}};} & (5)\end{matrix}$

while the equations describing the updating of the states are:

${\begin{Bmatrix}{a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack}} = {a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} + {\alpha \cdot \left( {1.0 - a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right) \cdot \left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} - \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)}}} & {{if}\mspace{14mu}\left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} > \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)} \\{a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack}} = {a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} + {\alpha \cdot a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \cdot \left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} - \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)}}} & {{if}\mspace{14mu}\left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} < \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)}\end{Bmatrix}\quad}\quad$

The visualization of the mean weights is carried out according to thefollowing equations:

${{Pixel}_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} = {{{ScaleW} \cdot \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} + {OffsetW}}};$${{ScaleW} = \frac{{HighestPixelsResolution} - {LowestPixelsResolution}}{{{Max}\; W} - {{Min}\; W}}};$${{OffsetW} = \frac{{{Max}\;{W \cdot {LowestPixelsResolution}}} - {{Min}\;{W \cdot {HighestPixelsResolution}}}}{{{Max}\; W} - {{Min}\; W}}};$${{{Max}\; W} = {\underset{i,j}{Max}\left\{ \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${{Min}\; W} = {\underset{i,j}{{Min}\;}{\left\{ \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}.}}$

Also in this example, the notation x_(i,j) ^(p) and a_(i,j) ^(p[n])includes not only the position data of the pixel in the array of pixelsforming the image, but also the parameters defining pixel features whichare related to pixels appearance in the array of pixels forming theimage. The parameters describing pixels features and appearance can beexpressed according to one of the different systems currently known andused in the field such as the RGB parameters for the colors and/or theHSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness) or the HSL (Hue, Saturation,Lightness) parameters for the saturation of the pixel.

Similarly, in a variant, the method can also be applied to signals fromwhich the above pixel features are determined, for example, where theimage has been acquired by physical means using a certain physicaleffect.

Furthermore, the term pixel is still to be interpreted as including theextension to the three dimensional equivalent in a three dimensionalimage or voxel, and for the sake of simplicity in the description areference is made to a two dimensional case, since a three dimensionalimage can be reduced to a certain number of two dimensional images, eachcorresponding to a different slice of the three dimensional image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 a to 1 d illustrate respectively images of a bag acquired athigh energy, at low energy, generated by a conventional wavelet fusionmethod from the high energy and low energy images and generated using afirst embodiment of the image fusion method of the present invention.

FIGS. 1 e and 1 f illustrate a first enlarged particular of FIGS. 1 cand 1 d.

FIGS. 1 g and 1 h illustrate a second enlarged particular of FIGS. 1 cand 1 d.

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b show respectively a first infrared image and a TVimage of a truck.

FIGS. 2 c and 2 d show respectively the image obtained by the fusion ofimages 2 a and 2 b using the traditional wavelet method and the imageobtained by the fusion of images 2 a and 2 b using the method accordingto the first described example of a method according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 show a certain number of diagnostic images of a benign tumor andthe image obtained by the fusion of the number of images.

FIG. 4 show similar images as in FIG. 3 but of a malignant tumor.

FIGS. 5 to 7 are schematic representations of the steps of the method ofa second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 8 to 10 show several examples, in which the image obtained fromthe fusion of two source images with the method of the second embodimentis compared to the image obtained by fusion with a method according tothe state of the art.

FIGS. 11 to 13 show three different examples of an image obtained by thefusion of two source images obtained by treating the source imagesaccording to the second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 a to 4 illustrate examples of use of the first embodiment of themethod (ACF Fusion) according to the present invention.

EXAMPLE 1

In FIG. la and lb, there are two images of x-rays with high and lowenergy of a desktop computer. The target in this field is to preservethe penetration of high x-ray energy and the sensitivity toward thedetails of low x-ray energy.

In FIGS. 1 c and 1 d, the images obtained by fusion of the images ofFIG. 1 a and 1 b are shown and compared with fusion images, which areobtained respectively by a wavelet fusion method according to the stateof the art and by means of the algorithms according to the firstembodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 1 e, 1 f, 1 g and 1 h, thedetails of the images generated by the two different fusion algorithmsare shown.

By simply visually comparing the images of FIG. 1 c with those of FIG. 1d and correspondingly the details of FIG. 1 e and FIG. 1 g with those ofrespectively FIGS. 1 f and 1 h, it is evident how the first embodimentof a method according to the present invention is much more informativethan a wavelet algorithm in terms of detail preservation, noiseelimination and global image enhancement.

EXAMPLE 2

FIGS. 2 a to 2 d show the same comparison of fusion images as in Example1 but here the source images of figures la and lb are respectively aninfrared image and a TV image of a truck.

Again, fusion is carried out by means of the wavelet method and by meansof the first embodiment of the present invention.

The comparison between two fused images (2 c-2 d) shows that the imagefusion generated by the algorithm according to the method of the presentinvention evidences a greater level of detail than the image generatedby means of the traditional wavelet algorithm.

EXAMPLE 3

In this example a fused image obtained by means of a method according tothe first embodiment of the present invention is shown on the right sideof the image. On the left of the arrow, the source images consist of aseries of images of the same ROI. From the figures it appears clearlyhow the fusion of the several source images in one new image by means ofa method according to the present invention has a great effectiveness inthe medical field, in particular as applied to MDCT (multidetectorcomputed tomography).

In particular, the source images in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are images ofdifferent slices of a benign and of a malignant tumor and for each ofthe tumors the fused image is obtained by a method according to thepresent invention. The artificial image appears clearly to have betterdetail than each of the different slice images.

FIGS. 5 to 7 are schematic views, by means of which the steps of asecond embodiment (ACF Net Wave) of a method for generating an image byfusing two source images are explained relatively to their principal orgeneric meaning

In FIG. 5, two source images are shown. A first image is defined byindex p=1 and a second image is defined by index p=2. Each image isformed by an array of pixels respectively P_(ij) ¹ and P_(ij) ².

The square 10 comprising 3×3 pixels defines a pixel neighborhood of thecentral pixel having a radius R=1, since the radius corresponds to thenumber of pixel shells around the central pixel.

The first step consisting in Weights Initialization and sets the initialvalue of the weights w_(i,j,i+k,j+z) ^([n=0]) of the connection betweenthe central pixel of the pixel neighborhood (called also window) andeach of the pixels of the window to a value 0.0 for the first cycle n=0of the method:w_(i,j,i+k,j+z) ^([n=0])=0.0;n=cycles;i ε[1,2, . . . , R];j ε[1, 2, . . . , C];k,z ε[−G,+G].R=Rows;C=Columns;G=NeighborRadius

I, j are indexes which can assume any value between 1 and respectivelythe number of rows and columns of the array of pixels forming the image,and k, z are indexes for the elements of the window centered on eachtarget pixel, which can assume any value between the negative and thepositive neighbor radius.

When, as in the present example, the pixel neighbor radius is equal to 1the window of pixels centered at a certain target pixel has nine pixelsin the form of a 3×3 array of pixels.

The second step of the method consists in the scaling and offsetting ofthe pixels of the source images p=1 and p=2.

a_(i,j) ^(p) ^([n]) is the variable of the value of the pixels which hasbeen scaled and corrected at each method cycle [n] with the value of thepixels changing at every cycle of elaboration of image p.

a_(i, j)^(p^([n = 0])) = Scale^(p) ⋅ x_(i, j)^(p) + Offset^(p);${{Scale}^{p} = \frac{1.0}{{Max}^{p} - {Min}^{p}}};$${{Offset}^{p} = \frac{- {Min}^{p}}{{Max}^{p} - {Min}^{p}}};$Max^(p) = Max{x_(i, j)^(p)}; Min^(p) = Min{x_(i, j)^(p)};x_(i, j)^(p) = Original  Pixel(i, j)  of  Image(p);a_(i, j)^(p^([n])) = Scaled  and  Stretched  Pixel(i, j)  of  Image(p);

In the third step, the smallest neighbor is determined. FIG. 6 isillustrative of the principal effects of this step on the image pixels.

When, as in the present example, the radius of the pixel neighborhood isG=1, eight distances are calculated. The number of the distancescorresponds to the number of the weights between the central pixel andthe neighbor pixels within the window of pixel neighborhood radius G=1.

Then, the nine quadratic deviations of each pixel of the neighborhoodrelative to the weight connecting this pixel to the central pixel of thepixel neighborhood are computed.

As a further step, the indexes k and z are selected which identify thewinning weight, which is the weight determining the minimum distanced^(i,j,i+k,j+z) ^(p) ^([n]) relative to the central pixelsP_(i,j) ¹ e P_(i,j) ² of the pixel windows of the images p=1 and p=2:  (3)

${d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\sum\limits_{m = {- G}}^{G}{\sum\limits_{n = {- G}}^{G}\left( {a_{{i + m},{j + n}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} - w_{{i + m},{j + n},{i + k},{j + z}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right)^{2}}}};$${r_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{i + k}{︸}}{\arg{\;\;}\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${c_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{j + z}{︸}}{\arg\mspace{11mu}\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${s_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{p}{︸}}{\arg{\;\;}\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$where w_(i,j,r*,c*) ^(s) ^(*[n]) is the winning weight of the centralpixel P_(i,j).

The following step, in which at each cycle the weights are updated,consists in updating only the weights of the neighborhood of the centralpixel P_(i)j, which are dual of the winning weight w_(i,j,r*,c*) ^(s)^(*[n]) because they have the same direction.

The new value to be assigned to the pixel in the position i, j whichresults from the fusion of the two pixels P_(i,j) ¹ and P_(i,j) ²,respectively of image p=1 and image p=2, is determined by the mean valuew_(i,j) ^([n]) of the weights of the pixels of the neighborhood whichhas been updated in the direction of the winning weight.

$\begin{matrix}{{{{w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack} = {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} + {\alpha \cdot \left( {a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{s_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} - w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right)}}};}\mspace{20mu}{\overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\frac{1}{\left( {1 + {2 \cdot G}} \right)^{2}} \cdot {\sum\limits_{k = {- G}}^{G}{\sum\limits_{z = {- G}}^{G}w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}}}}};} & (5)\end{matrix}$

The follow-on steps are as already described:

updating of the states

$\begin{Bmatrix}{a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack}} = {a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} + {\alpha \cdot \left( {1.0 - a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right) \cdot \left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} - \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)}}} & {{if}\mspace{14mu}\left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} > \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)} \\{a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack}} = {a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} + {\alpha \cdot a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \cdot \left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} - \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)}}} & {{if}\mspace{14mu}\left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} < \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)}\end{Bmatrix}\quad$and visualization of the mean weights:

${{Pixel}_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} = {{{ScaleW} \cdot \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} + {OffsetW}}};$${{ScaleW} = \frac{{HighestPixelsResolution} - {LowestPixelsResolution}}{{{Max}\; W} - {{Min}\; W}}};$${{OffsetW} = \frac{\begin{matrix}{{{Max}\;{W \cdot {LowestPixelsResolution}}} -} \\{{Min}\;{W \cdot {HighestPixelsResolution}}}\end{matrix}}{{{Max}\; W} - {{Min}\; W}}};$${{{Max}W} = {\underset{i,j}{Max}\left\{ \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${{Min}W} = {\underset{i,j}{Min}{\left\{ \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}.}}$

FIGS. 8 to 10 show several examples, in which the image obtained fromthe fusion of two source images with the method of the second embodimentof the present invention is compared to the image obtained by fusionwith a method according to the state of the art.

EXAMPLE 3

Two source images of two clocks, where the images respectively of only adifferent one of the two clocks are sharp, are fused together by using astandard fusion method according to the state of the art and the methodaccording to the above described second embodiment of the invention.

A visual comparison immediately shows that only the fusion imageobtained by means of the method according to the invention was able toreproduce both clocks in a sharp way.

EXAMPLE 4

The source images are a CT (cat scan) and a MRI (magnetic resonanceimaging) image of the head, showing different details. Again the imageswere fused by using a standard method and the method according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention. As it appears clearly, onlythe fusion image obtained using the method according to the presentinvention shows the details of the first and of the second sourceimages, while the image obtained by standard means does not show similardetails for the brain tissues.

EXAMPLE 5

The source images here are two differently acquired landscapephotographs. The images were fused obtaining a new image as in theprevious examples using a standard fusion method and the methodaccording to the second embodiment of to the present invention.

Again, the image obtained with the method according to the presentinvention has more detail and reveals more information than the onegenerated by standard means.

The following examples 6 to 8 are limited to demonstrating theeffectiveness of the fusion method according to the present inventionwithout comparing it to the standard fusion methods.

EXAMPLE 6

FIG. 11 shows two source images: one infrared image and one image in thevisible part of the spectrum of the same subject. In the image taken inthe visual part of the spectrum, smoke clouds cover part of the subject.In the infrared image some details do not appear. On the left side, theimage generated by the fusion method according to the second embodimentof the invention is shown. As it appears clearly, the image generated byfusion reveals details which were partially not visible in the IR and inthe visible image. More particularly, in the fused image the structurein the center of the image is clearly visible, while this structure doesnot appear in the IR image and only partially in the visible image.

EXAMPLE 7

FIG. 12 is an example similar to the example of FIG. 11. In thisexample, a person is hidden in the wood. In the IR image the person canbe detected but with a very poor detail, while in the visible image theperson is not visible at all. The fused image reveals the person in avery clear way and with more detail and more brightness than in thesource images.

EXAMPLE 8

FIG. 13 shows two source images, which are x-ray images of a bagcontaining a test phantom. The two images are taken with differentenergies of x-ray radiation. The phantom has structures withpredetermined patterns, which allow evaluating the level of detail, theresolution, the contrast and additional qualities of the image.

Also in this example, the image generated by the method according to thepresent invention has better resolution, contrast and more detail thanthe source images, showing the effectiveness in enhancing image quality.

According to still another example, which is not illustrated, thepresent method can be applied to at least two source images consistingin only one and the same image, which is used as the first and as thesecond source image. Carrying out the fusion method to this singleimage, the fused image obtained shows more detail and has netter qualitythan the source image.

In regard to the above method, it must be stressed that since the methodaims at obtaining an image from the fusion of at least two sourceimages, the step of visualizing the fused image is part of the method.Visualizing can be carried out either by printing the image on paper orby displaying the image on a screen.

As an alternative, the new image can be printed as numerical parametersrepresenting the values of the pixels.

A further improvement consists in using the image obtained by thepresent fusion method as a starting image for carrying out imageprocessing by means of one or more image processing methods. This imageprocessing method can be one or a combination of the currently knownimage processing methods, or also any kind of processing methods, forexample, of image pattern recognition or for s-called computer aideddiagnostics applied to diagnostic images.

According to still another improvement, the methods in the above twoembodiments can be used in combination one with the other, for exampleby generating two fusion images from the same source images and thencarrying out a fusion of the two fusion images generated independentlyby the methods according to the two embodiments.

A further variant may provide that the fusion image generated by themethod according to the first or to the second embodiment is fed twiceas two identical input or source images to the method according toanother embodiment for generating a fusion image.

Additional variants based on the different possible combinations of thetwo embodiments of the method may be possible and are disclosed in animplicit way by the above description.

While the invention has been described in connection with the abovedescribed embodiments, it is not intended to limit the scope of theinvention to the particular forms set forth, but on the contrary, it isintended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents asmay be included within the scope of the invention. Further, the scope ofthe present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that maybecome obvious to those skilled in the art and the scope of the presentinvention is limited only by the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of fusing images comprising thesteps of: providing at least two images of the same object, each imagebeing a digital image or being transformed in a digital image formed byan array of pixels or voxels and the pixels or voxels of the at leasttwo images being combined together to obtain a new image formed by thecombined pixels or voxels using of the following steps defined in termsof equations: Weights initialization:w_(i,j,i+k,j+z) ^([n=0])=0.0;n=cycles;iε[1,2, . . . , R];jε[1,2, . . . , C];k,zε[−G, +G];R=Rows;C=Columns;G=NeighborRadius Image initialization:a_(i, j)^(p^([n = 0])) = Scale^(p) ⋅ x_(i, j)^(p) + Offset^(p);${{Scale}^{p} = \frac{1.0}{{Max}^{p} - {Min}^{p}}};$${\left( {{Offse}t} \right)^{p} = \frac{- {Min}^{p}}{{Max}^{p} - {Min}^{p}}};$Max^(p) = Max{x_(i, j)^(p)}; Min^(p) = Min{x_(i, j)^(p)};x_(i, j)^(p) = Original  Pixel(i, j)  of  Image(p);a_(i, j)^(p^([n])) = Scaled  and  Stretched  Pixel(i, j)  of  Image(p);Neighbor smallest:${d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\sum\limits_{m = {- G}}^{G}{\sum\limits_{n = {- G}}^{G}\left( \mspace{11mu}{a_{{i + m},{j + n}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} - {w^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}_{{i + m},{j + n},{i + k},{j + z}}} \right)^{2}}}};$${r_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{i + k}{︸}}{\arg\;\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${c_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{j + z}{︸}}{\arg\;\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${s_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\underset{\underset{p}{︸}}{\arg\;\min}\left\{ d_{i,j,{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$Weights updating: $\begin{matrix}{{{w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack} = {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} + {\alpha \cdot \left( {a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{s_{i,j}^{*{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} - w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right)}}};}{{\overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} = {\frac{1}{\left( {1 + {2 \cdot G}} \right)^{2}} \cdot {\sum\limits_{k = {- G}}^{G}{\sum\limits_{z = {- G}}^{G}w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}}}};}} & (5)\end{matrix}$ States Updating: ${\begin{Bmatrix}{a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack}} = \begin{matrix}{a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} + {\alpha \cdot \left( {1.0 - a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right) \cdot}} \\\left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} - \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)\end{matrix}} & {{if}\mspace{14mu}\left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} > \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)} \\{a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack{n + 1}\rbrack}} = \begin{matrix}{a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} + {\alpha \cdot a_{{i + k},{j + z}}^{p^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \cdot}} \\\left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} - \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)\end{matrix}} & {{if}\mspace{14mu}\left( {w_{{i + k},{j + z},r_{i,j}^{*},c_{i,j}^{*}}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} < \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} \right)}\end{Bmatrix}\quad};$ Visualization of new image:${{Pixel}_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack} = {{{ScaleW} \cdot \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}}} + {OffsetW}}};$${{ScaleW} = \frac{{HighestPixelsResolution} - {LowestPixelsResolution}}{{{Max}\; W} - {{Min}\; W}}};$${{OffsetW} = \frac{\begin{matrix}{{{Max}\;{W \cdot {LowestPixelsResolution}}} -} \\{{Min}\;{W \cdot {HighestPixelsResolution}}}\end{matrix}}{{{Max}\; W} - {{Min}\; W}}};$${{{Max}W} = {\underset{i,j}{Max}\left\{ \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}};$${{Min}W} = {\underset{i,j}{Min}\left\{ \overset{\_}{w_{i,j}^{\lbrack n\rbrack}} \right\}}$and printing or displaying the new image on a printing substrate or witha displaying device.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein thesource images are at least two images of the same subjects acquired bymeans of different image sensors or physical effects.
 3. The methodaccording to the claim 1, wherein the source images to be fused arethree-dimensional images, said images being subdivided in a series ofadjacent image slices each one being a two dimensional image, the stepsof claim 1 being applied for each slice image of the three-dimensionalsource images, generating fused image slices from which a fusedthree-dimensional image is reconstructed.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the at least two source images to be fused are one andthe same image.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein one or moreof the pixels or voxels of new image generated by fusion from the sourceimages or the image data relating to said new image are the inputs of aimage processing method or of a combination of image processing methods.